Jools Holland is looking very chuffed with himself. As they wait to film their appearance on Parkinson, Tom Jones has been telling Jools what happened when he played a copy of the pair's new album - a mix of old blues and rock 'n' roll songs and some new ones of their own - to Jerry Lee Lewis, who provided much inspiration for the album.

"He loved it," Tom says of his friend of 40 years. "He asked how old Jools was and I said he's in his 40s and Jerry said, `You tell that boy he can play.'

"Coming from Jerry Lee Lewis, that's amazing. He doesn't like other piano players. He thinks he invented boogie-woogie, and he did invent his own style of boogie-woogie, so I was knocked out by that."

And Jools? "Well, I was so flattered," he says with a grin. "In fact we had to get the builders round because my head was so big we had to knock a wall out. And one of my hobbies is boasting down the pub, so I was straight down the pub with something to boast about."

With hindsight, a collaboration between Tom Jones and Jools Holland seems inevitable. Both started their careers singing in local pubs and clubs - Wales for Tom and London for Jools - and they share a love of old and classic rock 'n' roll and blues tracks.

"This is material that we both loved when we first started doing it," says Tom. "I heard a lot of these records when they first came out. It's the kind of stuff that I started doing - 50s rock 'n' roll, rhythm and blues, soulful ballads.

"Because I've had a pop career, I've never actually recorded that type of song. But if Jools and me went to a pub or anywhere that had a piano, this is the stuff we'd be doing and now we've been lucky enough to record it."

Tom and Jools discovered this shared interest in 1998, when Tom first appeared on Jools' annual New Year's Eve celebration, Hootenanny.

* The album, called simply Tom Jones & Jools Holland, is in the shops now. BBC Radio 2 is to broadcast their Hammersmith Palais concert on October 9 at 9.30pm.